Tea Time

I've never been an avid tea drinker and I'm not very fond of 'flavored' teas.  My tea of choice always was (and still is) strong black tea with sugar.  However since we've been in Korea, I've been exposed to many more types of tea that I'm finding enjoyable.  Restaurants here will bring you a little teapot filled with hot water and loose tea leaves that gets strained as it is poured into your cup.  I've never had a tea made with loose leaves that I didn't like yet.

I got an adventurous urge in the tea section of a store recently and brought home some new teas to try.  I'm starting off with teas that have English words telling me what's inside.  Someday I may try the other teas in the boxes and bags with no English.  I have yet to find a selection of loose tea leaves but I'm sure there's a store around here somewhere that has them.

Upon bringing home my new teas, I found many great websites, including www.teabenefits.com, that have information about all types of tea and the benefits they have.

* Lipton Yellow Label Tea *  I had to buy this box for nostalgic purposes.  In 2007 I lived in Guatemala for three weeks to study Spanish and my host family offered me this tea at every meal.  I've never seen it sold in the States.  It has a slightly stronger and smoother taste than the regular Lipton black tea.

* Rosemary Tea *  I didn't think it would taste as good as it does.  It's pleasantly mild and fresh.  This tea supposedly has a lot of benefits including:  improving memory, improving circulation, reducing headaches and fever, fighting rheumatism, and relieving muscle pain.

* Lemon Verbena Tea *  This tea is made from a shrub that has a lemony fragrance.  It doesn't taste very lemony but it is enjoyably light and sweet.  The benefits of this tea include: relaxing the nervous system, calming the digestive system, calming itching, and reducing fevers.

* Chrysanthemum Tea *  This tea is made from dried flowers and has a light taste and fragrance.  Benefits of this tea include: lowering blood pressure, relieving headaches, reducing fevers, helping skin problems, contributes to clear vision, alleviating dizziness, and contributing to alertness without caffeine.

* Green Tea *  There are so many types of green tea available here!  I chose this one to try and I'm very happy with it.  It's very mellow and smooth.  Green tea has many benefits including: lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, improving heart health, reducing risk of cancer, and inhibiting viruses.

* Matcha Green Tea *  I got turned onto Matcha during my stay in Seattle where I had my first green tea latte.  It's not easy to find in stores in the States so I used to buy it online.  I love that it's available in the stores here and that, compared to online, it's very cheap.  I put it in my smootheis and make my own green tea lattes at home.  Matcha green tea is powdered green tea leaves.  "One glass of matcha tea is said to contain the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea in terms of its nutritional value and antioxidant content."

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"If you are cold, tea will warm you;

if you are heated, it will cool you;

if you are depressed, it will cheer you;

if you are nervous, it will calm you."

~William E. Gladstone